Protective toe structure for shoes



May 15, 1962 D. 1.. HUNTING ET AL 3,034,235

PROTECTIVE TOE STRUCTURE FOR SHOES Filed Dec. 31, 1959 2 Sheets-Sheet 1I6 E;E J

, DONALD L. HUNTING E. JOHN MOYLE INV EN TORS May 15, 1 2 D. HUNTINGETAL PROTECTIVE TOE STRUCTURE FOR SHOES 2 Sheets sheet 2 Filed Dec. 31,1959 DONALD L. HUNTING E- JOHN MOYLE INV EN TORS I 4 BY 44 m 3,e34,23sPROTECTIVE TOE STRUCT FOR SHGES Donald L. Hunting, Belmont, and EdwardJohn Moyle,

Rockford, Mich, assignors to Wolverine Shoe and Tanning Corporation,Rockford, Mich.

Filed Dec. 31, 1959, Ser. No. 863,229 2 Claims. (Cl. 36-77) Thisinvention relates to the construction of safety shoes, this term beingused to designate a shoe which includes a shell-like dome extending inan arch over the toe area to give protection against crushing. This typeof shoe is widely used in industry where there is some likelihood ofheavy objects falling on the foot.

The usual protective member is a formed piece of sheet steel extendingover the top and sides of the toe area, and terminating in shorthorizontal flanges resting on the sole structure of the shoe, andperhaps upon superimposed intermediate layers of material. As a heavyload is applied to the top of the protective member, there is a atnt3,034,235 Patented May 15', 1962 ice . sole, and therefore the relativestiffness of this piece does In the drawings:

not interfere with the movement of the shoe.

The several features of the invention will be analyzed in further detailthrough a discussion of the particular embodiments illustrated in theaccompanying drawings.

' transverse with respect to the shoe in the area occupied tendency forit to deflect in such a manner as to move the edges laterally outward.The protective capability of the member is greatly increased if someform of lateral restraint is applied to the peripheral edges to preventthis outward collapsing movement. In some forms of shoe construction,the layer of leather which is applied over the top of the protectivemember extends outward to form a shelf which is sewn directly to theassembly of material forming the sole of the shoe. This arrangementresults in the confinement referred to above.

Some forms of shoe construction, however, do not include an outer layerwhich is sewn to the sole outside of the periphery of the reinforcementmember. One such form is the Well-known construction in which theoverlying leather is brought inwardly underneath the reinforcementmember, and is adhesively secured to the sole. This system does notadequately provide for the lateral restraint of the edge of thereinforcement member as it tends to deflect under load. This inventioncombines an arrangement for laterally confining the edges of thereinforcement member in an entirely different manner than has heretoforebeen used. One component of the sole assembly is formed with a groove ordepression extending directly underneath the peripheral edge of thereinforcement member, and the engagement of the edge with the grooveserves to prevent the tendency of the edge to move outwardly as load isapplied. The dimensions of the groove are preferably such as toaccommodate the layer of leather which is normally superimposed over thereinforcement member to form the forward portion on the shoe. The edgeof this piece is turned under and inward around the base flange of thereinforcement member, and is then adhesively secured to the top of thesole assembly.

The use of safety shoes with the reinforcement member referred to abovehas heretofore been limited to shoes having a sufficient rigidity of thematerial forming the sole to provide adequate support for the peripheraledge of the reinforcement member. When a crepe or sponge sole is used,or even fairly dense rubber, heavy pressure on the reinforcement memberwill result in forcing the edge down into the sole and thereforerestricting the space underneath the protective member to the pointwhere the toes may still become crushed. This invention provides aconstruction which will make the safety toe features available in theshoes having softer sole mate rials, and this is made possible by theincorporation of a relatively rigid member in the sole which serves as afoundation for supporting the reinforcement member. The position of thissupporting member is such that it does not extend into the area ofsubstantial flexure of the by the reinforcement member.

FIGURE 5 presents a similarly enlarged section on a central plane in thesame area of the shoe as shown in FIGURE 4.

The shoe shown in FIGURE 3 is of the so-called oxford type, and includesthe top leather or vamp 10, the toe area 11, the heel 12, lacing 13, anda laminated sole including the layers 14 and 15. The structure in thetoe area of the shoe is shown in FIGURES 4 and 5. A dome-shapedreinforcement member of formed sheet steel is indicated at 16, andextends over the front and sides of the toe. The outer layer of leather10 is brought around underneath the peripheral edge 17 of thereinforcement 16, where it joins with the inner layer of material, orvamp lining, identifiedat 18 and also meets the insole sheet 19. Thesteel member it is received between the layers 10 and 18, and the lowerextremity of these three laminations is received within the groove 20 inthe supporting member 21. A standard adhesive serves to bond thesecomponents in assembled relationship, and it will be obvious that thestrength of the adhesive is not the primary factor which serves tolaterally position the edges of the reforcement member 16. With thisarrangement, the adhesive merely becomes an agent for holding thecomponents in engagement with the groove, the groove itself beingresponsible for applying the restraint to the edges of the reinforcementmember. To simplify the structure of the shoe, the laminated type ofsole is selected so that a portion of the upper lamination 15 can be cutshort as shown at 22 to provide for the supporting member 21, thismember being of the same thickness as the lamination 15.

The supporting member 21 is preferably of a relatively harder materialthan is normally found in the sole assembly. Particularly in the casewhere the sole laminations 14 and 15 are particularly resilient, therelative rigidity of the material of the supporting member 21 providesfor distributing the load from the reinforcement member over asufficiently large area so that adequate support is applied. It has beenfound preferable to extend the rear edge 23 of the supporting member 21to a point somewhat behind the rear edge 24 of the reinforcement member16. An extension in the amount of A of an inch has been found to givevery satisfactory results, and this dimension still places the rear edge23 in a position considerably ahead of the point of primary flexure ofthe sole of the shoe, which is in approximately the area designated at25'.

The sole laminations 14 and 15 are normally adhesively secured together,and this same form of attachment may be used to bond the supportingmember 21 to the lower lamination 14. The remainder of the structure ofthe shoe can be of any conventional form.

The particular embodiments of the present invention which have beenillustrated and discussed herein are for illustrative purposes only andare not to be considered In these claims, it is our intent to claim theentire invention disclosed herein, except as We" are limited by theprior art. 7

We claim: a

1. A shoe having aproteetive'toe structure, including: an outsolecomprised of a relatively soft, flexible material; a midsole securedabove said outso-le, also comprised of a relatively soft,fiexiblemateria'l, said midsole terminating at approximately thetipline; a rigid supporting member affixed to said outsole, said membercovering at least the'periphery of the toe area of said outsole; saidsupporting member lying generally flush with the top of said midsole; arigid insert shaped to the configuration of the toe;.of the shoe; thelower portion of said rigid insert positioned to lie above said rigidsupporting member; an outer layer of shoe material enveloping said rigidinsert; an inner lining engaging and afiixed to the inner amidsolesecured above said outsole, also comprised of a relatively soft,flexible material, said midsole terminan' 4 ing at approximately thetipline; a rigid supporting memberaifixed to said outsole, said membercovering at least the periphery of the toe area of said outsole; saidsupporting member lying generally flush with the top of said midsole; arigid insert shaped to I the configuration of the toe of the shoe; thelower portion of said rigid insert positioned to lie above said rigidsupporting member; an outer layer of shoe material enveloping said rigidinsert; an inner lining engaging and cemented to the inner surface ofsaid rigid insert; an insert cemented to the top surface of said rigidsupporting member; and said outer layer and said inner lining joinedtogether and cemented to and between said rigid supporting member andsaid insole, thereby securing said rigid insert in said position.

References Cited in the tile of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS UNITEDSTATES PATENT OFFICE CERTIFICATE OF CORRECTION Patent No. 3,034,235 May15, 1962 Column 4, line 10, for "insert", second occurrence, read insoleSigned and sealed this 11th day of September 1962.

(SEAL) Attest:

ERNEST w. SWIDER DAVID LADD Attesting Officer Commissioner of Patents

